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Social justice

Maryknoll missioners around the world feel the impact of social injustice and see its effects in the communities were they live and work. Flowing from their ministries of presence and accompaniment, as well as from the concrete programs and projects in which Maryknollers participate, we engage in the hard work of identifying root causes of social and economic injustice. With a particular focus on the geographical regions where Maryknoll is present, as well as on structural or systemic injustice affecting women, children, indigenous peoples, migrants and refugees and people with HIV and AIDS, we join with others of like mind to identify potential pathways to social transformation and to move our world in that direction.

With great concern for the state of the U.S. democracy, eleven national and international Catholic social justice organizations sent the following statement to Congress on the occassion of Martin Luther King Day.

On November 20, 14 Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, sent a statement to members of Congress regarding the Syrian refugee crisis and the need to welcome Syrian refugees.

Maryknoll recognizes the great importance of the publication of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the use of torture, which details terrible acts of horrific brutality.

In light of a series of calamities in Bangladeshi apparel manufacturing plants that resulted in an overwhelming loss of life, over 200 institutional investors (including the Maryknoll Sisters and the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers), representing over $2 trillion in assets under management, issued a statement on May 16, calling on apparel industry leaders to implement systemic reforms that will ensure worker safety and welfare, and to adopt "zero tolerance" polices on global supply chain issues.

At the June 27-28 Vienna+20 High-Level Conference on Human Rights, the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition (RTFN) was launched with the intent to hold governments accountable for the realization of one of the most violated human rights worldwide: the right to adequate food and nutrition.

On May 30, the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda presented its final report, "A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development."

President Barack Obama’s second safari ("travel" in Swahili) to Africa as head of state – scheduled June 27-July 2 – raises several interesting questions: Who will accompany him and his family to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa? With whom will Obama meet while in Africa? What issues will be discussed in public and in private? These questions may be a guide to what to look for in the Obama visit.

From April 18-May 4, Maryknoll Society Superior General Fr. Ed Dougherty and Maryknoll Fr. Jerry Hammond joined a small delegation that delivered medical supplies to people in North Korea who suffer from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

While it was progressive organizations like the Free Pass Movement (MPL) that organized the marches, this year, with complaints about public services, as the protests grew in size, conservative forces tried to take control of the marches to make them appear to be a generalized clamor against President Dilma Rousseff.

Fr. James Kroeger, MM, who served in the Philippines, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.

David Kane, a former Maryknoll lay missioner who served in Brazil, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.

Phil and Kathy Dahl-Bredine, who served as lay Maryknoll missionaries in Mexico, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.

Sr. Madeline Dorsey, MM, who served many years in El Salvador, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.

Fr. Thomas J. Marti, MM, a Maryknoll Father serving in Seattle, WA, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.

Former lay missioner Heidi Cerneka served in Brazil; she wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.

Sr. Euphrasia (Efu) Nyaki, MM, who serves in Brazil, wrote the following reflection which was published in A Maryknoll Liturgical Year: Reflections on the Readings for Year B, available from Orbis Books.